This chapter is from the book

This chapter is from the book

March
2006

WEDNESDAY:
MARCH
1, 2006

THIS WEEK’S FOCUS: Upgrading Your PC

Adding New Ports

Let’s say you want to add a second printer to your system. Most PCs
come with only a single parallel port, to which you probably have your existing
printer connected. The answer, of course, is to add a second parallel port to
your system. (Another solution is to buy a USB printer and connect to a free USB
port; let’s not ignore easy fixes!)

Or maybe you’ve become enamored of USB devices and completely filled
all your system’s USB connections. Buy one more USB-compatible peripheral,
and then what do you do? Here you have a choice: You can increase the number of
connections available by adding an external USB hub, or you can add an extra USB
card to your system.

Here’s another one. You want to connect your new digital video
camcorder to your PC to edit your home movies but your camcorder connects via
FireWire, and your PC doesn’t have a FireWire connector. The solution? Add
a FireWire port to your system unit.

Adding ports of any kind to your system is a simple internal upgrade. Just
head down to your local computer store and purchase the appropriate port
expansion card. (All different types are available.) Then power down your PC,
remove the case, and insert the new card into any open card slot. Put it all
back together and boot it up, and you have new ports available to use. Easy!

On This Day: Direct-Dial Transatlantic Phone Service (1970)

On this day in 1970, direct-dial transatlantic phone service was initiated
between the U.S. and Britain. The service was a joint effort between
America’s AT&T and the British Post Office (which at that time also
handled the British telephone system).

HARDWARE OF THE WEEK: SUNBEAM 20-IN-1 SUPERIOR PANEL

Sunbeam’s 20-in-1 Superior Panel lets you add some extra connections to
the front panel of your system unit. It takes up a normal 5.25-inch drive bay
and offers a combination of card readers (all popular formats), FireWire, USB
(2), SATA 2, RCA audio, and headphone connections, along with a fan controller
and cool blue LCD display. Buy it for $34.99 at
http://www.sunbeamtech.com.